Quotes & amp;amp; Notes

-- Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice, as quoted by the Associated Press on Jan. 23 about the upcoming elections

Time To Pony Up -- In a new poll commissioned by the Washington Health Foundation, 63 percent of Washingtonians say they think large businesses should be required to cover at least half of their employees' health insurance. And if the state budget required cuts, 34 percent said they'd advocate raising taxes instead of cutting health care.

The results of the poll have WHF officials saying it shows the citizens understand how deep the current crisis is. "Nobody likes taxes, and as a general rule, about half of voters do not want to burden businesses with health care costs," says WHF Director Greg Vigdor. "So the fact that a clear majority says it supports such measures to increase health coverage demonstrates the seriousness of the problem."

Terror Alert Nostalgia -- Ah, the good old days. You remember, just before the election, when every day brought new fears that we might be attacked by terrorists... probably on Election Day... most likely at your precinct. The alert was hovering somewhere around "fuchsia." Isn't it weird that now that the election is over, there haven't been any more terror alerts? Even Tom Ridge -- you know, the anti-terror czar who's leaving his job defending us "to make some money" -- has said the "chatter" has died down.

But big media seems to be missing those good old days. Time magazine ran a story speculating on whether terrorists would employ the dreaded "limo bomb" to disrupt last week's inauguration. Never mind the entire story had almost no basis in reality. But it brought back that feeling, didn't it? You know, that feeling that you could -- any moment now -- be blown into tiny smithereens. Oh well, maybe next time Democrats try to, like, get elected, we can fire up the old terror kaleidoscope and set the controls for "hot pink."

Inflation in D.C. -- According to the watchdog group Public Campaign, the money didn't stop flowing into the president's coffers even during the inauguration. For $250,000, you and your spouse could have had a private lunch with President Bush and Dick Cheney (along with backstage passes to all the inauguration's best parties). It's not clear why a president in his second term is still seeking contributions, but who's counting?

Anyway, it's no worse than Bill Clinton, who charged $100,000 for a sleepover in the Lincoln Bedroom. Wait, it is worse -- $150,000 worse.